Date played: March 15th
Platform: PS4
Most of my time was spent traveling to Meridian, the biggest city in Carja land, and probably the biggest city in the game. Along the way, I stumbled upon another bandit camp. I really wanted to be stealthy for this one, and I managed to clear the whole place without getting spotted, though there were a few close calls. It didn't have a lot of elite enemies though, just one in fact, so it was a lot easier than the last one I did.
Back on the road, I had to be very careful, as there were many strong robots roaming around the area. The most impressive was my first sighting of the towering machine of death called Thunderjaw. This thing is like a T-Rex and it's fully weaponized. In fact, this robot has so many components! I carefully avoided it's path, since I'm not sure I'm really ready to fight this thing yet, but I have a feeling Tear arrows will be very useful against it since it has so many different components that can be removed.
That's when I saw Meridian for the first time. I can't say it enough, Horizon Zero Dawn might just be the best looking video game ever made. The view is just breathtaking. Meridian is a large city, built on top of a huge rock formation. It even has big mechanical elevators to carry people to the wildlands below. It's architecture is reminiscent of a medieval castle, with high spires, big bridges and lots of stonework.
The rest of my time was spent exploring Meridian and talking to a bunch of people. A man I had met during the Proving is actually a high ranking officer in Meridian, so he helped me find clues about Olin, the man with the Focus who helped the bad guys track down Aloy. In Olin's apartment, I found many clues. It's clear that Olin was blackmailed into spying. I also found a map with places that he visits frequently, so I can head out there if I want.
I did a lot of shopping in Meridian too. I bought myself a new Blast Sling that has a proximity bomb function. I also bought a bunch of different armor sets, one with frost resistance, one with shock resistance and another with melee damage resistance. I was also able to turn in one of my Banuk figures set for some nice rewards.
I also found the hunter's lodge. These guys have a really strict structure... I was granted access to the lodge thanks to my prowess in the hunting grounds challenges, but that's it. To be considered a member, I must first find a sponsor, known as a Hawk, so that I can be their apprentice, known as Thrush. I had a hard time even finding a willing Hawk, but eventually, a young woman took me under her wing. To impress the Sunhawk, the leader of the hunter's lodge, I was given a quest to bring back trophies from fighting powerful machines. I also discovered that there are some really nice rewards for completing all the hunting grounds challenges, so I hope I can find the remaining two spots soon.
I picked up a lot of side quests in Meridian... I've got some shrines to find, some robots to kill, some murders to investigate, a Banuk camp to search for and tons of other little things. It's great really, I can't wait to do them all! I'm also getting really close to getting a new skill that allows me to remove and conserve modifications for weapons and armor. This should give me a big boost when I activate it.
Platform: PS4
Most of my time was spent traveling to Meridian, the biggest city in Carja land, and probably the biggest city in the game. Along the way, I stumbled upon another bandit camp. I really wanted to be stealthy for this one, and I managed to clear the whole place without getting spotted, though there were a few close calls. It didn't have a lot of elite enemies though, just one in fact, so it was a lot easier than the last one I did.
Back on the road, I had to be very careful, as there were many strong robots roaming around the area. The most impressive was my first sighting of the towering machine of death called Thunderjaw. This thing is like a T-Rex and it's fully weaponized. In fact, this robot has so many components! I carefully avoided it's path, since I'm not sure I'm really ready to fight this thing yet, but I have a feeling Tear arrows will be very useful against it since it has so many different components that can be removed.
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| The road to Meridian is dangerous, particularly because of that Thunderjaw in the background |
The rest of my time was spent exploring Meridian and talking to a bunch of people. A man I had met during the Proving is actually a high ranking officer in Meridian, so he helped me find clues about Olin, the man with the Focus who helped the bad guys track down Aloy. In Olin's apartment, I found many clues. It's clear that Olin was blackmailed into spying. I also found a map with places that he visits frequently, so I can head out there if I want.
I did a lot of shopping in Meridian too. I bought myself a new Blast Sling that has a proximity bomb function. I also bought a bunch of different armor sets, one with frost resistance, one with shock resistance and another with melee damage resistance. I was also able to turn in one of my Banuk figures set for some nice rewards.
I also found the hunter's lodge. These guys have a really strict structure... I was granted access to the lodge thanks to my prowess in the hunting grounds challenges, but that's it. To be considered a member, I must first find a sponsor, known as a Hawk, so that I can be their apprentice, known as Thrush. I had a hard time even finding a willing Hawk, but eventually, a young woman took me under her wing. To impress the Sunhawk, the leader of the hunter's lodge, I was given a quest to bring back trophies from fighting powerful machines. I also discovered that there are some really nice rewards for completing all the hunting grounds challenges, so I hope I can find the remaining two spots soon.
I picked up a lot of side quests in Meridian... I've got some shrines to find, some robots to kill, some murders to investigate, a Banuk camp to search for and tons of other little things. It's great really, I can't wait to do them all! I'm also getting really close to getting a new skill that allows me to remove and conserve modifications for weapons and armor. This should give me a big boost when I activate it.
